Wednesday, January 27

Emma 2009 in Print

Last October, when Emma 2009 was shown on BBC in the UK, the Times Online reviewed the film, which A.A. Gill felt came up short. He sounds like a curmudgeon, for he practically wished Jane Austen's work to perdition.

Last week in this newspaper, I read that Mark Twain had said if he knew where Jane Austen was buried, he’d dig her up and beat in her skull with her own femur. My sentiments entirely. The world can be, and indeed should be, split between those for Jane and those for Twain.

Gill also drivelled a similarly intellect-free "review" of Sense and Sensibility in 2008. The graphic actually made me feel rather sick, even though I knew it was photoshopped.

And anyone who quotes that particular Twain bit of idiocy needs...well, I think perhaps they have pronounced their own sentence, as I cannot imagine a life more bereft of true joy than that of someone who hates Jane Austen. After all, if you hate the good and love the bad, you are impoverishing yourself, are you not?

Nigel,I never liked the Riker - Troi romance and I hated that they made her NOT use her lovely British accent. I always thought Riker was more suited to Tasha Yar, but then they killed her off ( twice )

I found Dax and Worf in DS9 to be more Austensque in a Klingonish kind of way !

BTW,I am also a Star Wars fan, so don't get me started with that either...And dear friends...We better stop with the Star Trek stuff etc., before our lovely blog owners give us the boot or at least use the dreaded DELETE button ! LOL

Little Dorrit was very popular in the US - Little Dorrit won seven Emmy awards (nominated for eleven) including Best Miniseries, sold tons of videos, and both American reviewers and viewers loved it. In short, quite a success. But you'd never know it from reading some of these UK articles trashing period dramas. In the UK, Little Dorrit was plagued with scheduling irregularities, it was put in 1/2 hour increments and at odd times, rescheduled repeatedly without notice, and people were complaining to the BBC en masse because they wanted to see it but couldn't. I think what we see in some of these articles is the writer's bias, and even the term "bonnet drama" is indicative of contempt for a historical dramatization from a woman's perspective. But the misrepresentations with the goal of doing away with what so many obviously enjoy is a bit much. Hopefully WGBH will ignore the whining of the minority and learn from the overwhelming success of Little Dorrit that if you give the people a fine period drama, they will watch.

Loved Star Trek/Star Wars, too... Any Twilight Zone fans out there? Watching Rod Sterling quote from The Merchant of Venice at the end of one, priceless. I bought the whole set to watch on rainy days... in between period dramas, of course. :-)

Persuasion, an annotated edition, edited by Robert Morrison: A Review

Jane Austen Still Present in Society

Elizabeth Langland, literature scholar at Arizona State University, discussed Jane Austen's relevance today in a lecture she gave last year. Click on image to read excerpts of her speech.

Jane Austen's Crime

Podcast with Susannah Fullerton from JASA

Poll: What did you think of Kate Middleton's wedding dress?

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In honor of the royal wedding: Princess Charlotte's wedding dress, 1816

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The Obituary of Charlotte Collins by Andrew Capes

Click on this link to read this amazing historic artifact!

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History of London: Wattle and Daub

Click on image to see 2 min video

A silhouette of "Caky" for sale: Nanny to Edward Austen Knight's children

Find out more about this auction item by clicking on the image. Jane Austen most likely knew Caky. Jane Austen most likely knew Caky.

Interview with Susannah Fullerton, President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia

FTC Rules for Bloggers

It seems that the books or DVDs bloggers receive from publicists are valued more than the irreplaceable time that is spent in crafting a positive or negative review. My disclaimer is this: I make no money off my blog, and I write the reviews in my spare time. Most of the unsolicited merchandise I receive is given away as a prize, but I do choose to keep a few items.

So sue me FTC.

To access the new rules and regulations that make absolutely no sense to chump-change bloggers like me, read this interesting blog. Click here.- Vic

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